I'm almost 8spd!

Two spokes broke on the rear wheel on Monday, and rather than a repair I decided to replace both wheels. The bikeshop gave me a good deal on a pair of 36hole Mavic x222's (anybody any idea how they differ from x221's?) handbuilt on LX hubs along with a cheap Shimano cassette. They didn't have any 8spd ESP shifters in stock so at the moment I'm running the seven higher gears on the seven speed shifter which works okay - the spacing is obviously close enough for it to work, but I guess it should be smoother once I've got the new shifter.

The wheels feel less 'leaden' than the old ones, though I'm not sure whether the silver spokes are as fast as the old black ones

Richard